Normally a Business-to-Business or a Business-to-Consumer information exchange involves transactions between two parties, a supplier/vendor or seller and a customer. With the rapid expansion of the on-line world, many of these transactions are taking place in a virtual environment. One particular area of interest is IT products such as hardware (e.g., processors, memory modules, adapters, etc.), and/or software (e.g., applications, operating systems, etc.). Unfortunately, existing systems for conducting such transactions and exchanging information typically support only exchange between a single vendor and a single customer. Moreover, existing solutions typically only support a single pricing scheme, such as that between a vendor and customer, while failing to recognize that a transaction may include a third part such as a PSP who may introduce a second pricing level.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for an approach that solves at least one of the above-referenced deficiencies in the related art.